Any point in revising for English Literature?

[RevisiontipsGCSE]

Trying to help DD who is in year 10 with a revision timetable as MOCKS are in a few weeks.

Last Mocks: English Language:4. English Literature: 2 Teacher said they are hoping for a 5 in both. Maths: 3. Science: 5

I am thinking we should simplify and focus all energy in Maths and English Language. The upcoming mocks will be for English Literature not Language mock until December. There will be Mocks for maths and science too.

Shall we just forget about English literature? She has lots of coursework in her main subject/qualification too.

Yes, I worked a bit outside hours but not to this extreme. Revising for 9 plus exams which will decide your future. I only did some tests and homework which were realistic in terms of time and ability.

How do you know? Do you know my child?

I can see it’s harder to understand if you have never had to do dedicated revision for a series of exams.

This is the thing tho - there really is not capacity in school to cover the revision. Also in a class of 30, dc will have different needs and abilities in terms of what they remember and how, how high they are aiming.

You’ve had good advice here from me and others on ways to look at Eng lit revision. How many Eng lit exams will she have and covering what texts? Just one on Macbeth, so one essay? Or (say) A Chr Carol as well? She must have studied two texts by now.

My experience is very old, but I was a child who did well in science subjects and struggled more in the written ones. I also had an English teacher who seemed to dislike me and my marks in English, especially Literature, were always very poor.

Anyway, this was for Olevel, and I decided to give up on Literature, learned 3 quotes from each text and was going to fit them into whatever questions were asked. I didn't even read the books in full. I got a B.

It's interesting, looking back, that this was entirely my own thought process, and that despite both parents being teachers and very supportive of education, I don't remember them having much input at all in my actual studies.

Have you ever heard the expression ´just give me the cliffnotes? It’s not just an expression, cliffnotes are real study guides. They exist in book form but the website is good too and loads of free content on Macbeth.

Back in my day the CGP revision guides were really good (along with bbc bitesize that a pp suggested).

I wasn't good at English but was good at regurgitating and managed to get an A just by reading the guide which spelt it all out.

I would get one for each subject if you can afford it (they are like £6-£7) or you can probably get some second hand.

Not sure when the mocks are and how much time you have left. Ideally you would have a week or two left clear to finish the coursework once mocks are out the way. Agree that ultimately the coursework matters more but it won't be great for confidence if she gets bottom grades due to not revising.

Yes, it's not at all educationally sound but I basically got through my O and Alevels by using study guides and practice questions, rather than any real study of the subjects.

Our English teacher taught us one of the texts by telling us the synopsis, characters and then picking out the exact chapters to read and studying those. It worked perfectly, did not read the lengthy text.

Study guides work.

I would get her to reread the texts so that she is familiar with the themes, key scenes and chatacters.

Do most people's brains work like that? I enjoy reading, for the story's sake, for entertainment. At the end of a book I've enjoyed I could give you a symopis of the story/where it's set etc, but I wouldn't be able to analyse the characters or themes.

For me, pass notes that specifially point these things out would be a much better use of the time, if the aim is to pass an exam.

There’s even a Cliff Notes website these days - https://www.cliffsnotes.com
worth checking out

Part of the problem tends to be the way schools break the texts down each lesson. Focussing on sections rather than the whole. I suspect many pupils don’t read it in full. It will only make proper sense if you know the narrative and main characters and how they interrelate. Watching a production make bring it alive. Study notes may help focus.

She could also listen to the play rather than reading it. Perhaps the actual text and also a moden English translation.
It’s definitely worth revising for.

“A modern English translation” my goodness how depressing. Macbeth is written in English, obviously. Actually I don’t think changing “by the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes” to “I think a nasty chap is about to come in” helps anyone.

What might be helpful is to watch a scene then ask her to explain to you what’s happened. Can be a lot more useful than passive reading of a text.

There’s too much of the syllabus to cover in lesson time. Some subjects barely get to the end of it by the time the exams come

How I wish I could just spend a week studying Macbeth instead of working! Anyway sorry that doesn’t really help …

Ive heard the Lightup Macbeth tuition is meant to be good. Marquee tv does a free seven day trial that includes David Tennant’s incredible Macbeth and NT at Home has one too

I agree with you @clary that reading a modern Engish translation loses so much of it. One of the things i did with DS1 though who has SEN was to get him to tell me what was going on in his own words. It got to be quite funny the more he got into it. Describing the witches 'hey, you beardy weirdos, you women or wot?'

I also recommend Richard Franks on youtube if you want just a 5 minute comedy skit of Shakespeare and others. When DS became depressed and bored with his various texts they made him laugh and picked him up again. Granted it's not 'serious' revision but it's fun and in our case made DS realise that these plays aren't old and dusty, but can be great fun as well. Shakespeare was writing popular culture- the Eastenders script writer of his age!

Appreciate it's a lot of work for them during GCSEs, but I wouldn't entirely abandon what is essentially a core subject.

Could you develop a revision/coursework timetable together to help plan to do specific tasks/revision topics on specific days? That's what I remember doing, and although it was a while ago now, I remember taking around 12 GCSEs with constant coursework and mock exams. Planning it, and dedicating an hour or two per day to just one or two topics helps to keep on top of things without it getting too overwhelming.

Mocks aren't the end of the world, so no need to go overboard, but as English is such an important subject I would definitely give it some attention.

Yes. People's brains work like that.
Studying a text for literature is different than reading for pleasure.

In reality, she should be reading the full text at least 3 times. One of those times will be in class. I used to play clips for important scenes. Macbeth is great. There's all sorts of different interpretations. I still find the Patrick Stewart version scary. Some schools arrange theatre trips too.

She will be doing themes and characters in class and should have been doing written homework too. She should also know at least 15 quotes and be able to compare and contrast extracts.

This is not as difficult as it sounds. Every time a student engages with the text or watches the play, it reinforces their knowledge and understanding of the text. They also need to be aware that macbeth is a play and be able to discuss this accordingly, for example, dramatic irony and stage directions. I assume this may tie in with performing arts.

Your lack of experience of the English education system is one of the issues here.

How long has your daughter been in the English education system?

I'm going to try and explain how things work. Forgive me if I'm being too detailed or telling you things you already know.

Your daughter should have arrived in secondary school in year 7 aged 11. She should have started studying English, maths and other subjects then.

In English, she will have already studied some Shakespeare and other novels and poetry. This would have been preparing her for the gcse course. She will also have done some creative writing, which is preparation for English language.

If she joined the school in year 7, you should have attended a parents information evening, which would have explained all about the school, subjects, homework and other expectations.

At the end of year 9, beginning of year 10, you should have had another parents information evening, explaining about gcse choices and the requirements for each subject.

On the school website, there should be a section about the curriculum and each subject, explaining the content and exams.

There may possibly be a homework timetable on the student/ parent portal. This will show you how much time should be spent on each subject per night/week. There should also be a record of any homework set. It's a good idea to check regularly on the parent portal.

You should also have an evening once a year where you can discuss your daughters progress in each subject, and areas for improvement. Plus regular school reports.

The most commonly used texts for English literature are: A Christmas carol; An Inspector Calls; Macbeth; an anthology of poetry - 15 poems; plus unseen poetry - this means she should be able to write about a poem which she has not read before.

Make sure that you attend any parents evenings next year and discuss your daughters progress and what she needs to do.

Of course I don’t but exams and coursework are part and parcel of education. You didn’t mention SEN so I’m assuming she’s a capable girl with at least average intelligence, who is following a standard curriculum. That curriculum is designed to be achievable (or reduced / adjusted to account for SEN).

She won’t be able to drop entire parts of her job when she gets to work. Or whole modules if she goes on to further education.

Have a look at the current year 11 GCSE thread - you will see how much they are revising! Most have approx 22 exams over 6 weeks.

I totally agree re English Lit and think it should be an option rather than a core subject. I got an E in it back in the day and my son is predicted a 3. Such a hard subject for some.

I agree it is a very hard subject for some, but I also think it should be compulsory. As someone on education threads has said before (sorry can't recall who!) no one says "let's make science and maths optional" and yet a YP may dislike and struggle with those subjects enormously. Between them those subjects bring nine exams compared with Eng lit's two.

(Btw I am not saying science should be an option either! and crucially the is a foundation tier for all those exams)

What I do strongly believe (and have said this before) is that there should be a F tier for both English exams – maybe even capped at a 3 or perhaps a 4 – as for some DC it really is so challenging. Similar or the same texts could be studied but the questions could be shorter and better scaffolded.

Really though to be able to finish school never have had to study or look at any Shakespeare – arguably the greatest writer there has ever been – would surely be a travesty in the UK.

I very much doubt she will be able to drop English literature. Its one of the core subjects, unless she is doing functional skills.
To answer why they do the exams now, expediency for the schools, exam rooms and halls are still set up after gcses, invigilators are already employed. The students get the full exam experience.
They will have been covering the main texts since September, she should have a bank of quotes, try exploding them, breaking down into literary devices, context, how it impacts the audience. She should have techniques in her books showing her how the teachers want them to answer. But its early days, its to measure their knowledge and ability to answer questions.

English Lit is straightforward to revise for - despite the horrendous syllabus and exam design, the best thing she can do to revise is to read the books over and over again. Schools will tell you that re-reading creates a false sense of security and isn’t effective revision, but in fact for Lit, re-reading is essential. Knowing the stories, characters and events, and understanding the subtext is key. The more familiar she is with books, the better. Audiobook versions in the car, film productions, going to the theatre, all help too, but there’s no substitute for reading. Obviously there are other ways to revise, but strong familiarity and understanding what the texts are about should be enough to uphold a grade 4. If she’s had a 2 before, she probably just didn’t remember the texts well enough. One read through in class isn’t enough to understand them properly. Reading fast is better - full immersion. None of the commonly used texts would take more than four hours to read cover to cover. Read alongside her, or put her in the car and drive her somewhere that there and back would cover the audiobook.